Construction on the first phase of the Suburban Rail Loop’s Stage One has been allocated $2.2 billion in the 2020-2021 Victorian Budget.
The project will link Cheltenham and Box Hill, with the new funding helping to progress the project from planning to delivery. Stage One funding will allow land purchasing, upgrades of roads and power supply, building of new substations, utility relocation, protection and ground improvements.
The full Suburban Rail Loop will then link every major train line between Frankston and Werribee via Melbourne Airport.
Site investigations and other pre-construction activities have already begun and will ramp up in the coming months. Initial and early works will begin in 2022, creating 800 jobs.
A pre-qualification for contractors will go out to market, with Expressions of Interest to follow by the end of 2020, for the Stage One initial and early works.
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Following 18 months of project development, design, site investigations, engineering assessments and community consultation, preferred station locations have also been released for the 26 kilometre rail corridor between Cheltenham and Box Hill.
These are located:
- near Southland Shopping Centre, underneath Sir William Fry Reserve
- adjacent to Monash and Deakin universities
- central to the Box Hill and Glen Waverley activity centres
- north of Carinish Road, Clayton, which will link regional passengers to the line
So far, landowners and tenants of up to 300 homes and businesses have been notified that their property is in an area that may be impacted by the project. Work will be undertaken to minimise these impacts and keep surrounding communities informed.
The full Suburban Rail Loop project is expected to create up to 20,000 jobs during construction while supporting 2000 apprentices, trainees and cadets. The Investment Case is expected to be completed by early 2021.
Premier Daniel Andrews said this is the biggest infrastructure project in Victoria’s history, and it will play a big role in getting our state back on track. Delivering a world-class public transport system – and creating tens of thousands of jobs for Victorians.
“This investment will pave the way for major construction on the Suburban Rail Loop. We promised to deliver this project and we’re delivering on that promise,” he said.
Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop Jacinta Allan said Victorians could not have been clearer about Suburban Rail Loop – they want us to get on and deliver the biggest rail project in our state’s history and we’re not wasting a moment.